Baby P chief Sharon Shoesmith avoids platform edges as she fears she might be pushed in front of train

Dr Shoesmith, who was fired from her job at head of children's services at Haringey Council in 2008, says she is still worried someone would recognise her and try to kill her.Credit:
Rii Schroer/The Telegraph

Sharon Shoesmith, director of children's services at Haringey council when Baby P was killed, never stands close to the platform edge as she fears a member of the public might push her in front of a train.

I don't go on to the platform when the Tube's not thereSharon Shoesmith

She was eventually sacked by Ed Balls, the then Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, in December 2008.

Dr Shoesmith and her department were criticised in a Serious Case Review hearing, which found that the toddler's death could have been prevented and that "the practice of the majority, individually and collectively... was incompetent".

Describing how she is still considered a hate-figure to many, she said: "I don't go on to the platform when the Tube's not there, I stay right back in the corridor until it comes in."

Baby Peter Connelly's body was found in his cot in August 2007 with more than 50 injuresCredit:
PA

She also said that Britons are "in denial" about parents harming their children, saying the blame is routinely "heaped on social workers".

Speaking to the Ham & High newspaper, Dr Shoesmith said: "We understand a lot of other things about our world, the number of women who get breast cancer, Alzheimer's, dementia, but we seem to just bat this one away. We can't face this one."

She estimated that at least one child is killed a week by a family member or person known to them, in cases of "familial child homicide".

She added: "If we could raise our awareness, that's the only way we can begin to tackle that statistic."

Lawyer: Sharon Shoesmith was scapegoated

02:22

Speaking about Baby P's death, she said she would never accept blame, adding: "I wasn't culpable."

She told the newspaper: "There's absolutely no way in which I'd take personal responsibility for the murder of a child, no way I'd ever do that.

"And I don't think social workers should ever do that either, take personal responsibility, they aren't personally culpable.

"I didn't know Peter, I wasn't there. The social worker knew him but she in no way would have been party to a child losing

"As far as I'm concerned, I carried out my responsibility, as many other directors have done before and since, because one child a week dies at the hands of their family.

"And if you're going to sack social workers and directors, every time that happens, you're just not going to have a service."

His mother Tracey Connelly, her boyfriend Steven Barker, and his brother Jason Owen were convicted of causing or allowing Peter's death and were sentenced in 2009.

Connelly was jailed for a minimum of five years before being released in 2013 and recalled to prison in 2015 for breaching her parole. Barker was jailed for life and Owen jailed for a minimum of three years.